Apparatus for dividing a stream of printed newspapers into portions

ABSTRACT

The apparatus comprises a deflector for selectively directing the flow of printed signatures, positioned beneath the folder drum of a rotary printing press, the deflector being associated with a drive receiving signals from an electric pickup responsive to the angle of rotation of this folder drum, the pickup including a rotary disc having a plurality of angularly spaced dividing elements, the number of these elements being equal to the number of batches of the signatures, delivered for assembling during a single full revolution of this element of the disc of the pickup.

llnite States ent [191 Grachev et al.

[451 Mar. 18, 1975 APPARATUS FOR DHVIDHNG A STREAM 01F PRINTED NEWSPAPERS HNTO PORTIONS [76] Inventors: Leonid Pavlovich Grachev, ulitsa Serafimovicha, 2, kv. l8]; Nikolai lvanovich Anikanov, Bolshaya Bronnaya ulitsa, 2/6, kv. 6, both of Moscow; Grigory losifovich Zax, ulitsa Mechnikova, 14a, kv. 24,

. Kiev; Grigory Avramovich Radutsky, l6 Parkovaya ulitsa, 49, korpus 2, kv. 68, Moscow; Rafail Efimovich Kheifets, Brest-Litovsky prospekt, I62, kv. 30, Kiev, all of U.S.S.R.

[22] Filed: May 18, 1973 [2l] Appl. No.: 361,846

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. l2, 1972 U.S.S.R 1825045 [52] US. Cl. 270/32 [51] Int. Cl. 8411'43/00 [58] Field of Search 270/32; 271/64, 73

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,128,092 4/l964 Nelson 270/54 3,467,371 9/l969 Britt et al 270/58 3,749,392 7/1973 Yanagawa 270/58 Primary ExaminerRobert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-V. Millin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hoiman & Stern [57] ABSTRACT The apparatus comprises a deflector for selectively directing the flow of printed signatures, positioned beneath the folder drum of a rotary printing press, the deflector being associated with a drive receiving signals from an electric pickup responsive to the angle of rotation of this folder drum, the pickup including a rotary disc having a plurality of angularly spaced dividing elements, the number of these elements being equal to the number of batches of the signatures, delivered for assembling during a single full revolution of this element of the disc of the pickup.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR DIVIDING A STREAM OF PRINTED NEWSPAPERS INTO PORTIONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to apparatus employed in the printing industry and more particularly, it relates to an apparatus for dividing a stream of printed newspapers delivered by the folder drum of a rotary printing press into portions.

An apparatus is known in the art for dividing a stream of printed newspapers delivered by the folder drum of a rotary printing press into portions, including a deflector for selectively varying the path of the printed newspapers, mounted directly beneath the folder drum and associated with a drive controlled by a program control unit incorporating a pickup operatively connected with the drive of the folder drum and responsive to the angle of rotation thereof.

The incorporation in the known apparatus ofa rotary deflector mounted in the path of the newspapers delivered by the folder drum and controlled by a program control unit provides for the capability of dividing the continuous stream of the newspapers printed by the press into individual portions that are subsequently rearranged into batches, the number of the newspapers in each portion, and, consequently, in each batch being pre-set and counted by a counter actuated by the pickup device responsive to the angle of rotation of the folder drum, operated by the drive of the folder drum.

The known device always counts the newspaper being assembled into batches, whether the batches have the same amount of newspapers therein or arbitrary amounts.

However, when the bathces are to be combined into standard packages of newspapers, i.e., into packages wherein every batch contains the same amount of newspapers, such packages amounting usually to not less than 70 percent of the daily run of newspapers, there is no necessity of counting the number of the newspapers when their stream is divided into portions that are subsequently assembled into batches.

Therefore, the employment of the program unit device with a counter that counts the number of the newspapers in every batch and every portion without exemption throughout the printing of a daily run of the newspapers unduly complicates it operation and affects the reliability of its performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to simplify the structure of the apparatus and to step up the reliability of its performance.

This object for dividing into portions the stream of printed newspapers delivered by the folder drum of a rotary printing press, mounted on a shaft, comprising a deflector for selectively varying the path of the printed newspapers, the deflector being mounted beneath the folder drum and associated with a drive actuating this deflector. In accordance with the invention, the drive actuating the deflector is directly connected with an electric pickup device responsive to the angle of rotation of the folder drum, the pickup device including a rotary master disc operatively connected with the shaft of the folder drum, the disc having a plurality of angularly spaced dividing elements, the number of these elements corresponding to the number of electric pulses sent to the drive of the deflector and being equal to the number of the batches of newspapers, delivered for assembling into batches during one full revolution of the disc of the pickup device.

The invention preferably makes use of an inductance type pickup including a rotary master disc having radial lugs and recesses of which the total amount determines the number of portions to be assembled during one revolution of the disc, there being employed a group of identical such pickups of which the discs have different numbers of the lugs and recesses, all the pickups being mounted on a common shaft and being operatively connected to the shaft of the folder drum, the electric units of the pickups, cooperating with the discs and adapted to send electric output signals, being connected to the drive actuating the deflector through a switching unit selectively connecting for operation any required of the pickups.

The apparatus being of the above specified general structure, the reliability of the performance of the apparatus, as a whole, is stepped up, since there is no necessity to employ a program control unit incorporationg a counter, for dividing the stream of the newspapers into any number of equal portions.

However, it is expedient that the apparatus should additionally include a program control unit for pieceby-piece counting of the newspapers, the unit including a counter connected to a pickup responsive to the angle of rotation of the folder drum, the last-mentioned pickup also having a rotary disc mounted on the common shaft and being connected to the switching unit.

With the apparatus being of the last-described structure, it is capable of dividing the stream of the newspapers not only into pre-set equal portions, but also into portions having any arbitrary amounts of the newspapers therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, with reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically the general view of the apparatus; and

FIGS. 2 to 5 illustrate the rotary discs of the pickups of-the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in particular to the appended drawings, the apparatus comprises a deflector l for selectively varying the path of the delivery of the newspapers 2, the deflector 1 being mounted directly beneath the folder drum 3 of a rotary printing press 4, in the area where the newspapers 2 are delivered by this folder drum. The deflector 1 is connected through an arm 5 and a hinge 6 with the drives 7 and 8 adapted to actuate the deflector 1 upon receiving a corresponding control signal.

These drives 7 and 8 of the deflector l are controlled by a system including inductance-type electric pickups 9 responsive to the angle of rotation of the folder drum 3, the pickups being connected to the drives 7 and 8 through a switching unit 10. The switching unit 10 is arranged so that at any given moment of time any one of the pickups 9 can be directly electrically connected to the drives 7 and 8. However, the pickups 9 may be not only of the inductance type, but of any other suitable type. The pickups 9 of the presently described embodiment include electric units l1, l2, 13 having the outputs connected to the input of the switching unit and further include the respective master discs 14, 15, 16 associated with their individual ones of the electric units, the cooperation of the master discs and their electric units resulting in a signal at the output of the pickup 9, the signal controlling the operation of the drives 7 and 8 of the deflector l.

The discs 14, 15 and 16 are mounted on a common shaft 17 connected through a worm gear couple 18 to the shaft 19 of the folder drum 3. Each one of the discs has dividing elements that are spaced angularly, the elements being in the form of radial lugs and recesses, the number of the elements corresponding to the number of electric pulses sent to the drive actuating the deflector land being equal to the number of the portions separated from the total stream of the newspapers during one full revolution of the disc.

The shaft 17 further carries a disc 20 belonging to a pickup 21 of which the electric unit 22 is connected to a counter 23 associated with a program control unit 24, the output of the counter being connected to the drives 7, 8 of the deflector 1 through the switching unit 10.

The drives 7 and 8 of the deflector 1 include electromagnets (not shown) capable of retaining the deflector l in either one of two selectable positions according to the electric signals received thereby and a drive (not shown, either) for displacing the deflector 1 between these two selectable positions.

The herein disclosed apparatus operates, as follows.

With the printing press 4 operating, folded newspapers 2 are delivered by the folder drum 3 to the deflector l and are deflected thereby, depending on the position of the deflector 1, to follow either one of two selectable paths.

Actuation of the deflector 1 is effected by the drives 7, 8 operable for dividing the stream of the newspapers into equal portions from a selected one of the pickups 9 connected to these drives of the deflector 1 through the switching device 10. The master disc of the pickup 9 selected by the switching unit, while rotating together with the shaft 17, acts by its radial recesses upon the electric unit ofthis selected pickup, which brings about alternating energization of the drives 7 and 8 and, consequently, displacement of the deflector 1 between its two alternative positions, in which way the stream of the newspapers is divided into equal portions. The switching unit 10 is controlled to connect a corresponding one of the pickups 9 to the drives 7, 8 of the deflector l, to effect division of the stream of the newspapers into equal portions containing specified equal amounts of the hewspapers, determined by the volume.

Thus, presuming that during one full revolution of the intermediate shaft 17 the folder drum 3 makes 50 revolutions, i.e. delivers 100 newspapers, then the drives 7, 8 of the deflector 1 should be connected to the electric unit 11 of that one of the pickups 9 wherein the contoured disc 14 (FIG. 2) has one radial lug and one recess, the deflector 1 will divide the stream of the newspapers delivered by the folder drum into portions containing 50 newspapers each. With the drives 7, 8 of the deflector 1 being connected to the electric unit 12 ofthat one ofthe pickups 9 of which the contoured disc 15 (FIG. 3) has two radial lugs and two recesses, the deflector l divides the stream of the newspapers delivered by the folder drum into portions containing each 25 newspapers. With the drives 7, 8 of the deflector 1 being connected to the electric unit 13 of that one of the pickups 9 of which the contoured disc 16 (H6. 4) has five radial lugs and five resesses, the deflector 1 divides the stream of the newspapers delivered by the folder drum 3 into portions containing each 10 newspapers.

When the stream of the newspapers is to be divided into portions containing an arbitrary amount of the newspapers, the drives 7, 8 of the deflector 1 are connected by the switching device 10 to the program control unit 24 the control unit including the counter 23 for to piece-by-piece counting of the newspapers, and the pickup 21.

ln this case the counter 23 is fed with a corresponding program of division of the stream of the newspapers, which is realized in accordance with signals coming from the counter 21 adapted to send an output pulse, as every successive newspaper leaves the folder drum. Upon completion of this program of operation the counter sends a signal to switch over the drives 7, 8 of the deflector 1.

What we claim is:

1. An apparatus for dividing a stream of printed newspapers into portions which are to be subsequently assembled into batches, saidapparatus comprising: a folder drum of a rotary printing press; a deflector for selectively varying the path of the printed newspapers, said deflector being disposed beneath said folder drum; drive means for actuating said deflector between selectable positions thereof; a shaft carrying said folder drum; electric pickup means being responsive to the angle of rotation of said folder drum, said pickup means being electrically connected to said drive means of said deflector for controlling the actuation thereof; said electric pickup means having a rotary master disc drivingly connected with said shaft carrying said folder drum; said rotary master disc having elements being angularly spaced such that the number of said elements correspond to the number of said electric pulses sent to said drive means of said deflector and are equal to the number of the batches of the newspapers delivered to be assembled during one full revolution of said master disc of said pickup means.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pickup means is of an inductance type and said rotary disc thereof includes radial recesses and lugs of which the total number determines the number of batches delivered to be assembled during one full revolution of said master disc, and further comprising a group of identical pickup means including respective discs which have different numbers of said radial lugs and recesses, said discs being mounted on a common shaft drivingly connected with said shaft of said folder drum, said respective pickups comprising electric units cooperating with said discs to send electric signals and being connected to said drive means of said deflector through a switching unit operable to connect for operation a selected one of said discs.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein further comprising a program control unit including a counter capable of piece-by-piece counting of the newspapers, said counter being connected to an additional pickup means responsive to the angle of rotation of said folder drum, said additional pickup means having a rotary disc mounted on said common shaft, said counter being connected to said switching unit. 

1. An apparatus for dividing a stream of printed newspapers into portions which are to be subsequently assembled into batches, said apparatus comprising: a folder drum of a rotary printing press; a deflector for selectively varying the path of the printed newspapers, said deflector being disposed beneath said folder drum; drive means for actuating said deflector between selectable positions thereof; a shaft carrying said folder drum; electric pickup means being responsive to the angle of rotation of said folder drum, said pickup means being electrically connected to said drive means of said deflector for controlling the actuation thereof; said electric pickup means having a rotary master disc drivingly connected with said shaft carrying said folder drum; said rotary master disc having elements being angularly spaced such that the number of said elements correspond to the number of said electric pulses sent to said drive means of said deflector and are equal to the number of the batches of the newspapers delivered to be assembled during one full revolution of said master disc of said pickup means.
 2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pickup means is of an inductance type and said rotary disc thereof includes radial recesses and lugs of which the total number determines the number of batches delivered to be assembled during one full revolution of said master disc, and further comprising a group of identical pickup means including respective discs which have different numbers of said radial lugs and recesses, said discs being mounted on a common shaft drivingly connected with said shaft of said folder drum, said respective pickups comprising electric units cooperating with said discs to send electric signals and being connected to said drive means of said deflector through a switching unit operable to connect for operation a selected one of said discs.
 3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein further comprising a program control unit including a counter capable of piece-by-piece counting of the newspapers, said counter being connected to an additional pickup means responsive to the angle of rotation of said folder drum, said additional pickup means having a rotary disc mounted on said common shaft, said counter being connected to said switching unit. 